tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post4961695270784892107..comments2023-09-18T08:44:40.951-05:00Comments on faith in community: It's not for youDiane M. Rothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07749136181846671327noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-33855269951585630432008-08-21T07:42:00.000-05:002008-08-21T07:42:00.000-05:00I like to think that the Canaanite woman won the a...I like to think that the Canaanite woman won the argument with Jesus and actually got him to change his mind. Perhaps, she was even God's instrument for Jesus to realize that his ministry was wider than he previously knew, not simply to the Jewish people.<BR/><BR/>Then, too, Jesus may have used the encounter to teach his disciples (who seemed so often not to "get" his teachings) a lesson about faith.June Butlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01723016934182800437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-43439762737858177892008-08-18T22:01:00.000-05:002008-08-18T22:01:00.000-05:00I can't add much to what the others have said, but...I can't add much to what the others have said, but I wanted to let you know I appreciated your thoughts here.Ruth Hull Chatlienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08797146501548509911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-3505602684059651342008-08-18T11:44:00.000-05:002008-08-18T11:44:00.000-05:00Lindy -- you are so right. YOu know, I think of O...Lindy -- you are so right. YOu know, I think of Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" -- and that actually she is a good example of that audacity. maybe more than Obama's book...<BR/><BR/>Thailandchani-- the whole concept of insiders and outsiders IS troubling, but I think it's part of our humanness to keep putting those walls up. Thanks for the challenge.<BR/><BR/>Fran -- you got it. to me, that's where mission is.<BR/><BR/>PS -- lots of good thoughts about the promise and pitfalls of being a "missionary." And your experience at the southern school -- I wonder what THAT was about.<BR/><BR/>Border Explorer -- of course, you ARE on the border. that's what I like about you.Diane M. Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07749136181846671327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-71057768385551470362008-08-18T11:01:00.000-05:002008-08-18T11:01:00.000-05:00//I wonder if it's even possible for us, except in...<I>//I wonder if it's even possible for us, except in the most unusual situations, to experience what it means to be the outcast...//</I><BR/>I like hanging out at the edges of society because it helps me get a clue about the outcast concept. But I always know I'm just visiting. So--yes--good question.Billie Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08214111146566550821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-15836225150000394072008-08-18T08:24:00.000-05:002008-08-18T08:24:00.000-05:00several reflections:Missionaries go to a new count...several reflections:<BR/>Missionaries go to a new country as outsiders....but don't they come thinking that they have something better than the insiders of that country?<BR/><BR/>During my trip to Uganda last fall, I was an "outsider" obviously, but we were never treated as outsiders. I'm sure that if I actually lived there, there would be moments of being so different and out-of-it, but we were treated as honored guests.<BR/><BR/>In contract, while in college, I took a course called The Writer and his Country. We read southern writers and traveled to New Orleans, with several stops on the way. At one place, a small black university, we were to meet a writer/teacher, possibly Alice Walker, and we, white Northerners from a Lutheran college, were sequestered and not allowed to mix or meet anybody else. That was really strange. <BR/><BR/>The insider/outsider metaphor can be plenty powerful. We often think of evangelism as getting people to come INTO our churches, but in reality, we can't be successful unless we go OUTSIDE the church building first, so some work and teaching and loving.LoieJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977264499770654307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-61997205250643351702008-08-18T07:47:00.000-05:002008-08-18T07:47:00.000-05:00Yes - only when we as church become the outsider d...Yes - only when we as church become the outsider do we fully meet the mission... this proves almost impossible to do most of the time.Franhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181529277715646835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-36589662951363077032008-08-17T23:13:00.000-05:002008-08-17T23:13:00.000-05:00I think we need to get beyond the whole concept of...I think we need to get beyond the whole concept of insiders and outsiders. We are all one human community - and if we don't start behaving that way, I don't have much hope for the future. ;) <BR/><BR/>So.. yes... any church should welcome anyone. <BR/><BR/><BR/>~*thailandchanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171731740204067889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086978161944568008.post-30426005685778936262008-08-17T22:24:00.000-05:002008-08-17T22:24:00.000-05:00Once again you cause me to say "hum... I never tho...Once again you cause me to say "hum... I never thought of that before."<BR/><BR/>I love this woman for lots of reasons but mainly because she's the only one who ever beat Jesus at the game of witty repartee. And she’s quick too, playing off his dog comment; she puts herself in the master’s house. Very clever, and brave. I think Jesus must have laughed to himself. At last, he found someone who could verbally spar with him and it turns out to be a Caannite dog. You just never know…<BR/><BR/>Thanks for posing your question Diane. If the current insiders became outsiders -- if that could happen -- then who would be the new insiders?Lindyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04662429826507775390noreply@blogger.com